


hot spring

by bombcollar



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series)
Genre: Gen, Hot Springs & Onsen, Platonic Relationships, Pokemon Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-12
Updated: 2015-02-12
Packaged: 2018-03-11 23:20:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,135
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3336545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bombcollar/pseuds/bombcollar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tabitha tries to relax after the events on Mt. Chimney but it doesn't go very well.</p>
            </blockquote>





	hot spring

**Author's Note:**

> Team Magma seems like the type to enjoy hot springs don't they?  
> This fic is also posted on my tumblr.

“Leader Maxie?”

“Yes, Administrator Tabitha?”

Amidst complaints about the heat and some reserved comments about the danger of being on top of an active volcano, the team was packing up their equipment and applying healing potions to any Pokemon injured in the conflict.

“I understand that we have to get ourselves to Mt. Pyre as quickly as possible…”

“That is what I said, yes.”

“However… as administrator, I advise that we…”

“Yes?”

“Perhaps… aha, for the mental fortitude of our underlings… The town is right at the bottom of the pass, hardly out of the way at all. I have plenty of reason to believe we would make better time if we… stopped there, to recuperate. After all, better to take a break where we know we will be able to rest and resupply, rather than exhaust ourselves out in the wilderness…”

Maxie was quiet for a moment, his lips set in a thin, unreadable line. Tabitha taps his fingers together, glancing out at the hazy horizon.

“Lavaridge, is it?”

“Yes, sir.”

“The one with the hot springs?”

“…yes, sir.”

Another few moments pass. He seems to be thinking it over.

“Very well. It will give me time to ensure we have reliable transportation.”

Tabitha grins. “Thank you, sir. I promise you won’t regret it.”

* * *

 

It’s chaotic trying to get a dozen grunts sorted into groups so they can go to their respective hot springs. Maxie opts not to join in and Courtney wanders off before anybody can ask her. Tabitha, badly in need of some time alone, opts for a private spring, away from his rowdy subordinates.

He slides himself into the spring with a deep sigh, cupping the steaming water and splashing it in his face. Those heatproof suits might keep them from overheating around volcanoes but they still made one sweat like the dickens. Several pools away he can hear the muffled voices of the grunts, suddenly a lot more subdued than he’d expected. It was impossible to make out what any of them were saying, but he couldn’t help but wonder if any of them were feeling similarly to him right now.

Maxie was their leader, the driving force behind them all. He’d pulled many of them out of very dark places, but recently things had seemed… unsteady. They were still moving ahead, but the path was unclear, and the destination even moreso. Tabitha dunks his head underwater and sits back, slicking his hair back from his face. He ought to have faith in Maxie, he knew that, but more and more it seemed their leader didn’t quite know what would come of their actions.

As he’s wiping water from his eyes, he hears the screen slide open, and turns, ready to admonish whatever careless bather hadn’t bothered to knock. “Excuse me, this bath is-”

Courtney stands there, her towel hung carelessly around her neck, otherwise unclothed. Though he knows she’s not really the modest type, Tabitha quickly looks away, suddenly becoming very interested in the far side of the pool. “Aha, er, Courtney…”

“I’m coming in,” she announces before he can say anything else, and steps into the pool, sitting on the shelf beside him. For about a minute they sit in awkward silence. Awkward for Tabitha, anyway, Courtney seems to feel little about it either way. Eventually she speaks again. “I wanted to be somewhere quiet.”

“…yes, of course. Perfectly understandable.” Tabitha shifts over to give her a little more room in the small pool, resting his hands on his thighs and drumming them with his fingers. She could’ve chosen her own private bath, but whatever reason had decided she’d rather be here with him. That was alright. Courtney did as she wanted. Tabitha had always admired her ability to remain unflustered seemingly no matter what the situation.

Small talk was useless, so Tabitha takes a deep breath, deciding he should just come out with it now that he had another Admin to speak to. “Courtney. Do you… do you think what we’re doing is correct?”

“Yes,” she answers almost instantly, looking ahead.

“You see, I’ve… been doing some reading. Reviewing some of the research we got back concerning those old carvings, and, well… I’ve got some-”

Doubts.

But he didn’t want to bring that up right away, no. That’d be too blunt. “…uneasy feelings.”

She doesn’t say anything yet, but she does look at him, turning her head slightly.

Tabitha curls his fingers uneasily, continuing. “The carvings seem to suggest something… cataclysmic. A mass ending of life, not simply the expansion of the land. At the moment, our plans are only to find Groudon, with no mention of how we may control it. If current Pokeball technology will even function in its presence… Perhaps Maxie hasn’t shared this with us yet, but I would think, with us being his administrators, we would have even the barest inkling…”

Her silence seems heavier this time, her gray eyes cold in the midst of the rising steam. “You’re doubtful.”

“Well… yes! Ahaha, yes, I guess I am, a little. And why shouldn’t I be? We- ah, we’re admins, it’s our job to assist our leader any way we can, and I believe we ought to go to Maxie about this!” He realizes he’s raised his voice, and lowers it before continuing. The background conversation carries on. It doesn’t seem like they’ve been heard. “Perhaps he isn’t going about this quite right. He’s only one man, he has flaws. He can’t plan everything perfectly…”

“Is this the world you want? Tabitha.” She interrupts his muttering.

He swallows, frowning. “I… yes. But not if it ends up costing what I think it may cost. The weather institute will have more information, and if we can convince them to let us review it, perhaps that will give me a better idea of what we’re up against. I just… I fear for our leader, and for all of us.”

As he watches her face, her gaze drifts up to the steam swirling above them. “It will be fine.”

“Ahaha… I suppose that’s easy to say…”

“It will be fine,” she repeats, soft, sharp, like someone’s stuck an icicle between his ribs. “I’m getting out.” Without another word, she stands, hoisting herself out of the pool. Though she appears as calm as always, the screen rattles on its frame as she shoves it open, leaving it like that so Tabitha has to lean halfway out of the pool to close it.

 

Maybe she was right, but there was plenty to justifiably worry about when you were trying to revive an ancient, potentially uncontrollable Pokemon. Tabitha sinks back into the water, tucking his knees up and resting his folded arms upon them. Tonight he’d try to rest, and savor his fears as they were now, blissfully unconfirmed.


End file.
